Roscommon to host the Dubs in league opener

All-Ireland champions Dublin will come to Dr Hyde Park in Roscommon's first game of the 2021 Allianz Football League.

Roscommon will face the all-conquering Dubs - winners of the Sam Maguire Cup for the past six years - on Saturday, May 15, after the GAA released confirmation of the league fixtures.

The last competitive meeting between the counties came in the Super 8s series in 2019, with Dublin winning comfortably by 2-26 to 0-14.

Roscommon emerged as winners of the Division 2 title last year, by virtue of finishing on top of the table in a year when no league finals were played.

The Rossies will also face Connacht rivals Galway and league champions Kerry in Division 1 South of this year's condensed format (see fixtures below).

The clash with Galway will be a dress rehearsal for this year's Connacht SFC semi-final between the counties. Anthony Cunningham saw his charges pitted against his native county when the draws for the provincial championships were made earlier this week.

Semple Stadium in Thurles will host the meeting of Dublin and Kerry on May 23. Dublin are denied home advantage after they were found to have held a collective training session in breach of Covid-19 guidelines.

Similarly, Monaghan have lost home advantage for their Division 1 North game against Armagh, which will take place in Enniskillen rather than at a Monaghan venue.

In this year's Allianz Football League, the top two teams in Division 1 South and Division 1 North will progress to Division 1 semi-finals. Division 2 North is made up of Donegal, Tyrone, Monaghan and Armagh.

The bottom two teams in each Division 1 group will play relegation semi-finals, with the two losers of those matches relegated to Division 2 for 2022.

Meanwhile, the Roscommon hurlers will start their league campaign away to Donegal on Sunday, May 9. They will also play home games against Mayo and Kildare, before ending their programme of games against Derry at Celtic Park.

Now under the management of Portumna native Johnny Keane, Roscommon have a bye in round 3 of Division 2B, which contains five teams.

Allianz Football League Division 1 South

Roscommon's fixtures

Round 1 (May 15): Dr Hyde Park, Roscommon (1.45) Roscommon v Dublin

Round 2 (May 23): Pearse Stadium, Salthill (2pm) Galway v Roscommon

Round 3 (May 30): Dr Hyde Park (3.45) Roscommon v Kerry.

Allianz Hurling League Division 2B

Roscommon's fixtures

Round 1 (May 9): O’Donnell Park, Letterkenny (2pm) Donegal v Roscommon

Round 2 (May 15): Dr Hyde Park (2pm) Roscommon v Mayo

Round 4 (June 6): Dr Hyde Park (2pm) Roscommon v Kildare

Round 5 (June 12): Celtic Park, Derry (2pm) Derry v Roscommon.